In order to realize all of the benefits of a content-transparent system (more on that in last week s post), there are three critical criteria. There are clear guidelines for what and how to publish into the system Participants act as good stewards of the system Active curation and spotlighting of information (at the company and Continue reading Criteria for an effective content-transparent system…
Many companies I work with consider transparency a virtue. But when I started to really dig in, it became very clear very quickly that transparency is one of those words Molly Graham would call a black hole word– (paraphrasing here) words that everyone uses freely but lack a concrete definition. And I find that transparency is Continue reading Structural Transparency vs Content-Level Transparency…
If you really want to get me riled up, all you have to do is ask me about my thoughts on Slack. As part of my (probably never-ending) journey to wrangle my thoughts on this, here are some thoughts on how to use Slack well. I ll also say that this conversation between Ezra Klein and Cal Newport Continue reading Good Stewardship in Slack The Kool-Aid Factory is a series of online zines about the…
If you asked customers and onlookers what Meter does, they would say WiFi (short for Wireless Fidelity). That’s also what the website says. But the truth is that the term ‘wireless’ is a misnomer. The internet, and our world, is deeply dependent on wires. And where they go and will go and how and who Continue reading Why I m rooting for Meter The Kool-Aid Factory is a series of online zines about…
What do I know about all this?! Over the last decade, I’ve worked on a lot of editorial projects that have the goal of entertaining and enriching the smart, ambitious, thoughtful people that hang out on the internet. By editorial, I mean longform content that is tied to an idea (as opposed to a product). Continue reading What I ve learned working on editorial projects The Kool-Aid Factory is a…
I spend just about all of my time thinking about ways humans can work together better and part of what makes my work so satisfying is that there’s an inherent romance in true crossfunctional love. So as Valentine’s Day rolled around, I got to pondering about the reliable ways colleagues could ignite that spark at Continue reading The questions that lead to crossfunctional love The Kool-Aid Factory…
Today is the Kool-Aid Factory s first birthday! I conceived of this project as a way to explore an interest and channel my COVID-induced ennui into something productive. When I got started, I knew how much I loved the subject-matter, but I had no idea how satisfying I would find it to be steeped in Continue reading Notes to Self, One Year In The Kool-Aid Factory is a series of online zines about…
Editor s note: I originally wrote this document for a workshop with David Perell s Write of Passage. Thank you to everyone that attended for being so engaged and thoughtful. Your questions, stories, and ideas are reflected in this updated, and much-improved, version. A Culture of Writing I ve come to believe that Stripe s culture of writing is Continue reading Writing In Public, Inside Your…
When starting a new job, there is a reasonable instinct to copy-and-paste your old ways of working into your new setting. You were, after all, very likely hired to do some version of that. However, this approach will ~always lead to some degree of organ rejection for you and/or for the company. Remember, your day Continue reading New gig? Play company archaeologist and anthropologist The Kool-Aid…
Day 1 at a new job is scary for anyone so when a new person is joining your team, it is oh so important for the existing team band together to 1- make sure she feels welcome and 2- provide a clear path to productivity. Even if a company-wide onboarding program is in place, team-specific Continue reading Onboarding new team members The Kool-Aid Factory is a series of online zines about the ways…